jaykza

55 minutes ago, Jay Olie Espy said:

I hope I’m not misreading what you write here, but just throwing out there. During his podcast, Jim Halperin said that he and his employees can bid on lots so long as it’s during proxy bidding and not during live bidding. So if the winning bid was by phone, couldn’t we cross off Jim as the winner of EQ?

Todd Hignite stated that he believed everyone at HA puts in proxy bids. However, on a prior podcast, Jim Halperin explicitly discussed himself having made bids during live bidding. From the fact that Todd sounded unsure along with Jim's comments, I don't believe there is any rule in place at HA that mandates employees placing bids by proxy.

27 minutes ago, delekkerste said:

 

2.  The aggregate value of the art out there is now simply too large for future generations to clear the market at current prices given the 10-100-1000x appreciation over the past 30 years

So, even allowing for comics culture going strong for decades to come, and for younger Millennials, Gen Z and future generations to have as much or more interest in buying this material as Gen X and the Baby Boomers when they start making more money, it's still not going to happen because they'd literally have to be multiple times better off to clear the market (this isn't an "ageist" statement - I've said that even most of the Baby Boomer and Gen X collectors themselves couldn't afford to re-buy their collections at prevailing market prices). And, in any case, we all know that the younger generations are not only going to be less well-off in the aggregate, but, they're also, on balance, not going to be as interested in the material in the same numbers. 

 

I think to consider this you need a good estimate of how many active collectors out there are propping up the current market. I haven't counted exactly, but I estimate the total galleries on CAF to be around 12k. So maybe there are 10k active users/collectors. If that doesn't cover the collector base, I'd peg the size of the US hobby at 30k-50k collectors that are currently actively buying (this might be a high range). Not counting international buying power, my point is that the hobby was, is, and more than likely will continue to niche. I'm not so sure macro forecasts of generational buying power and taste are as relevant because history has continued to show that a miniscule percentage of the population has been able to support this market for quite an extended period of time. 

Many on the board might be able to come up with better estimates to hobby size, since I haven't really gone to conventions and am newer. But I don't think anyone will come up with a 6 figure estimate for number of active collectors/buyers in the hobby. Would love to hear your thinking on this line of thinking, Gene.

12 hours ago, vodou said:

I was just a little too old to get into home system games (and a bit later CCG) the way Bronty and younger folks did - in the 1990s. So I understand why I'm not crazy for them, ever, or now. But I also know that I couldn't believe how crazy everybody was -back then- about that stuff, kids a few years younger than me then. They were not about comics, as much, especially as that period is also marked as the speculator collapse of comics 95-2000ish?. It's not a leap to imagine CCG and home gaming to take the lead now (for momentum) and eventually surpass comics/art in time. All this in an clean echo chamber though, back in the gritty real world  how the demographics and economic picture play out affects everything at a higher level...if you don't have it, you can't spend it, plain and simple.

I was very much into video games through the 80s and 90s. There was one game in particular on NES that I was obsessed with. The title was called "Baseball Stars' and for some reason it's production was very limited (may have been because of NeoGeo). This game was groundbreaking at the time because it would allow you to create and save many teams on the cartridge. You had the ability to create your players down to their batting stance or pitching form. It also allowed you to create leagues of user created teams over 162 game season. Every game you won, you received money, which then allowed you to power up your players in various areas. The gameplay was ahead of it's time as it was extremely fluid and allowed you to dive and jump the fence out on the field. 

My dad would take my brother and I on a search of every flea market in NJ in the hopes of finding a used version of this game. After over a year, we finally found it and it was the greatest day of my life. To this day, to me, it's the greatest game of all-time along with giving me incredible memories of the search with my dad and bro and enjoyment once attained.

Even with all this backstory, if it popped up in an auction, I would not give two sh!ts . Why? Because it's a piece of plastic. If I wanted to play, I could download it and experience a high degree of nostalgia. I'm only a single data point so take that for what it's worth but the reason I care about say comic art over something like a video game cartridge is that even if you strip away all the feelings of nostalgia, with comic art you are still left with a piece of art crafted by an artist that is singular and attached to a narrative form that has and will probably continue to impact generations of humans. 

Am I making a case that comic art will always retain it's value? Not at all. Nobody knows and it's useless to predict, imo. We have no idea how the world will look 20 years down the line. Looking from the standpoint of nostalgia, of course it's easy to say nobody will have nostalgia for some of this stuff down line. However, art has been appreciated and admired for many generations so I don't believe overall that people will ever use it for toilet paper. For me, the question comes down to whether, as we transition away from nostalgia (or the thought of OA as just a collectible), connoisseurs of comic art will evolve in the depth of their analysis and appreciation. I am hopeful as I see more and more content these days based around evaluating and appreciating the depth of artwork from past masters from individual artists and others interested in the medium. What does that have to do with value? I don't know, but anything that helps more people appreciate the form and the medium will more than likely help it to survive on to the next generation as more than just a collectible. 

Wow. Sorry to hear. What a nightmare. 

Another home run from the Felix crew. Chris Stevens delivers here with all the necessary elements: intensity, blood, hair, cables, tubes, sparks, claws! 

I kind of feel like the guy who couldn't lose in 'Press Your Luck" when it comes to commissions. Thankful and hoping it continues.

3 minutes ago, vodou said:

Anyway it's the outliers that make that innovate and (are eventually understood to have) set the pace for everyone else. Always. The herd can only turn slowly and much later follow, to much shallower success. Usually after killing or otherwise marginalizing the highly successful outlier

Definitely not advocating mob attacks on anyone, for which the Internet is exquisite for facilitating.  As you say, many times, the herd is incorrect and can easily get out of control. But...it's understandable that there are those on the board that want to try and check bad behavior and they seem to be doing it in good faith. What is bad behavior? I guess that's the debate, but for me, the issues brought up on this thread are clearly good examples of poor social form due purely to deception/dishonesty/withholding of relevant information. On the other hand, a group check like the "Flip of the day" thread (which nobody appears to enjoy ending up on) would fall into what you describe as could just be "innovative" category.

Probably my biggest art week ever. Stevens, Shimizu, Hewlett

http://cafurl.com?i=23808

You could also request a check or bank transfer. 

2 minutes ago, Nexus said:

"Reserve Not Yet Met", so "$26K" is totally meaningless.

I believe 60k was the price on CAF. 

bump.

22x17 Mad Max Fury Road commission by Aaron Conley. Dude overdelivered. Always feels good when an artist and subject synch up well. I've yet to be let down on a commission from Felix's crew. 

3 hours ago, zhamlau said:

Whose table is this?

Looks like Koch

Karl Kerschl

https://www.twitch.tv/karlkerschl

Akihito Yoomi 

Amazing channel from this manga artist. Makes videos of him creating published work from layouts to inking. The sound is quite soothing as well.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeySBnV71dyC-gwqapq9NwQ

Curious if people are aware of any artists that currently have a twitch stream or youtube channel in which they draw/ink/etc?? Would love to be able to compile a list in one location as opposed to searching for each one at a time. Below are 3 of which I am aware:

Jim Lee

https://www.twitch.tv/jimlee

David Petersen

https://www.twitch.tv/davidpetersen

Crees

https://www.twitch.tv/creeesart

Looking to buy a complete or near complete Alex Nino story, DC mystery preferably. Any help getting pointed in any direction would be appreciated!!

I was looking at the Sprang Batman DPS and noticed that it's mounted onto a single board. It looks like one of the two boards was cut to make a fit and additional ink was added to make the flame sections match more smoothly. Any opinions on how this would impact price? I am basing these observations on comparisons of images between Heritage and CLink. 

On 11/29/2018 at 8:08 AM, Nexus said:

I met Lambert very early on in my collecting. He has definitely shaped how I collect, and how I view the hobby. I've learned so much from him. One of these days, I'll sit down with him for a proper chat.

Think it would be great to hear you guys just chop it up regularly, if convenient. Would be nice to just be a fly on the wall for your conversations if you hang out often.

 I think it's great to hear this type of discussion. The good thing that I always seem to hear on Felix's podcast is the helpfulness and guidance that many collectors in the hobby have received from the older generation. I think veterans engaging with younger collectors and remembering that there is a learning curve will help to keep the hobby strong. I had no idea what the significance of 'Master Race' was when it popped up on Heritage other than the fact that it was a complete EC story. However, I probably wouldn't want to engage with you if you looked down upon me for that fact or if I confused it with DKIII. Anyone collecting today has probably worked their way back in time from wherever there childhood was. That happens when there is a good community where the more experienced continue to engage with both peers and the next generation rather than being insular. The chain will continue if it is continued. 

Thanks Gene for doing that,  it was very informative for me. Also, very much enjoyed listening to Lambert. His commentary is always well grounded and 'real'. Seems to me him and Felix are the prototypes for the types of veteran collectors this hobby needs to stay vibrant. 

29 minutes ago, Andahaion said:

Anyone know who reps Jorge Jimenez, or if he sells his OA?  A cursory online search didn't turn up much, save for a lot of Spanish.

Looks like he's completely digital

Thought I'd bump this topic to review some prognostications from 9 years ago as well as see who people think are the future stars today. 

Seems like Felix has many artists that qualify and command correspondingly strong prices in the OA market (DWJ, Pitarra, Dragotta, Tradd Moore, Pope). I'd add names like Matteo Scalera, Jerome Opena, and a seemingly under the radar names like Farel Dalrymple and Ian Macewan. 

Also, feels to me like working on great creator owned projects may ultimately give an artist a better shot at recognition and top tier status. This may just be my personal bias though based on reading habits these days. 

8 minutes ago, romitaman said:

Almost all large art covers were placed onto another oversized WORLD COLOR art board. The Doc Ock image here is all 100% drawn artwork and then glued down onto the oversized art board.

 

Thanks! That's interesting. Do you know if there was a reason they did it this way?

Excuse my lack of knowledge and inexperience but it looks like the entirety of Doc Ock's face is on a separate piece, like a giant stat and the last couple cm of his chin is on the board itself and there might be something underneath that. Or maybe it's an illusion from the camera?